A Second Chance
by moralis mors
Summary: After the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Naruto has successfully saved the world from it's calamity, but at cost many of his friends. After an accident at the Valley of the End, he finds himself in the past. Armed with knowledge of the future and skills as a shinobi, Naruto will use this chance to save his friends and show the world he is more than just the Yondaime's son.
1. Chapter 1

Ch 1: The child of Prophecy

* * *

On the night of that day, most people in Konoha were celebrating. They were celebrating the successful restoration of their home after the Fourth Shinobi World War. But most of all, they were celebrating the inauguration of their new hokage, who would lead them to a new age.

However, everyone was too drunk, and too busy celebrating, to notice their head honcho- had disappeared.

Naruto Uzumaki, Rokudaime hokage sat atop of the statue of Hashirama at the Valley of the End. As he sat silently listening to the sound of rushing water, he wondered if the past hokage would be turning in their graves if they the way he was behaving.

He had just become hokage, and instead of waving to the crowd as a proud hokage should be acting, here he sat, hiding from the rest of the world and sulking like a _child_.

So many of his precious people had been lost to the war that he just couldn't get over his survivor's guilt.

First there was Neji who had succumbed to his wounds by the accursed ten-tails when he tried to protect him. And dear kamisama, even _Sakura._

Sasuke tried to destroy Konoha as vengeance for indirectly causing the Uchiha Massacre. Sasuke who he had once cared about as a friend, had become his enemy. While everyone else lost faith in Sasuke, Naruto being_ Naruto_ tried to reason with him as he had done with Pein.

He tried to convince Sasuke not to judge Konoha a whole for the mistakes of a certain individuals. But Sasuke had already gone insane, consumed his own powers, loosing whatever scruples he had left.

Despite all the training that he had gone through, he messed up.

He had faltered, and Sakura, seeing that Sasuke was about to hit him_ again_ with the Chidori, intercepted, and paid the price for his mistake.

He could still hear the sound of chidori, reminding him of thousands of birds chirping, as he killed Sakura for not getting out of the way. And with her death, he snapped, and plunged a small and condensed version of the Rasenshuriken straight through Sasuke's heart.

He died instantly, blood splattering the ground as his carcass thudded onto the ground. And he had promised Itachi that he would definately save Sasuke...

As tears blurred his view, he accidentally slipped from his perch and plunged straight into the water below. He felt extremely stupid as his body hit the water with a loud splash.

But instead of kicking the water and resurfacing, he found that he couldn't breath. Everything had turned pitch black and his body felt as if it was being torn into millions of pieces. Perhaps he had died, and was being tortured in hell for all eternity? Just as the excruciating pain had started, it ceased unexpectedly.

And then he was drifting... Everything felt so very warm, foggy, and unfocused. He found the he could wiggle his arms and legs, but they didn't seem to be function properly...

Slowly, he opened his eyes, and saw a blurry outline of someone with blond hair. Blinking several times to clear the fog, he saw that he was somehow still in Konoha- a very decimated version of it's former glory.

Another moment later, he was sure he had finally gone insane, because he was looking straight at the face of a very much alive Yondaime hokage.

* * *

A few minutes earlier:

Under the moonlit sky, the Kyuubi roared in rage. Its claws tearing various buildings and people to shreds.

Multiple skilled ninja tried unsuccessfully to subdue the beast. With a single sweep of it's claws, the Kyuubi sent their bodies flying backwards.

Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze currently faced a strange masked man who had somehow caused the Kyuubi to grow rampant after his wife Kushina gave birth.

He was just about attack when the man spoke for the first time that evening.

"You wounded me and managed to pull out the nine tails, I'm impressed...However, the nine tails will eventually be mine. I _**will**_ rule world"

And before he could do anything, the man's body blurred and twisted strangely before disappearing with a similar effect to ripples on lake's surface.

It definitely _wasn't_ a genjutsu- even his chakra signature had vanished. It was somehow similar to his Flying Thunder God Technique, but much more efficient as it lacked the need for a seal to function.

It mattered not, he could analyze it further at a more convenient time. There was currently more important things at stake- such as subduing the nine-tails, and protecting Konoha from further damage.

He immediately used his Flying Thunder God Technique teleport the nine-tails out to of Konoha, arriving next to Kushina. To stop the fox from escaping, she bound the Kyuubi using charkra chains- glowing coils that lead directly to herself. The Kyuubi struggled and clawed at the ground, but to no avail. It couldn't shake loose from it's bounds.

With the beast temporarily incapacitated, Kushina looked at him with a soft smile on her face.

"Minato, with my death, I will take the Kyuubi with me."

His throat clenched painfully with the realization that one of them would be forced to die. He shook his head gave her his best look of determination.

"No. I am Naruto's father, so it's better for me to die than you." He looked at Naruto and smiled sadly. "Naruto needs his mother. "

He was truly sorry for condemning Naruto to the fate of being a Jinchuuriki, he really _was_. But he had faith his son because he truly believed that Naruto is the prophesied child, a student of Jiraiya's that would one day save the world from calamity.

In the split second that he lifted his hands to perform the hand signs needed perform the seal, the Kyuubi glowed. The light it cast off was bright to the extent of blinding. He flinched, turning from the light, and shielded his eyes from the light.

As he turned back to see what was happening, his eyes widened as the nine-tailed beast turned into a glowing shapeless mass, and pratically rushed towards Naruto.

He could only gape as the glowing mass, heavenly in brightness, seeped into Naruto's stomach.

After it fully entered, all that was left was a eight-trigrams seal that slowly faded from Naruto's skin until it disappeared completely.

Minato rushed over and anxiously checked his vitals- and it was then that Naruto's eyes opened. His eyes were clouded with fear, and he started to squirm and wiggle. Minato ran a few tests and was relived that the seal was somehow as strong as if he had been the one to administer it. Scooping up his son in one arm, he helped up his wife with the other and started towards the near crumbling Konoha Hospital.

By now, Kushiha's eyes were closed, and she was breathing shallowly. Cursing, he rushed into the hospital and ordered the medical-nin that already had a full plate on their hands to heal Kushina.

He waited, clenching her hand tightly with both of his own as the several medical-nin crowded around the bed working diligently. He watched in panic as each heartbeat on the monitor grew weaker and weaker until it stopped completely.

"I'm very sorry Minato-sama, but Kushina-sama has-" He waived for the medical-nin to stop and buried his face in his hands. He knew that she was dead, but really didn't want to be reminded of the fact. And to think that he once prided himself before as having great emotional strength.

Also, why was it that doctors always announced that someone was dead when he could clearly see the lack of heartbeat on the monitor. Didn't they know any tact?

Just as he was sat there overwhelmed by just about everything, he heard Naruto gurgle and was brought back to his senses.

Seeing Naruto still alive somehow caused his strength to return, and he decided that there was more important things at stake besides wallowing in self pity. He had a infant son to care for, and he swore to Kushina that he would raise him properly.

Before he left the hospital with his son, he made all the doctors swear an oath of secrecy- at the risk of a painful death not to expose Naruto's existence to the world. There was no way he would let his his son's existence be known while the village was still in ruins.

Being still at infant age, his son was highly at risk from being targeted by enemies that still bore grudges on Minato from the war.

* * *

As he entered the hokage's office, both the Sandaime Hokage and Jiraiya immediately stood up and rushed over towards him. Their gazes took in his battered form, and locked onto tiny squirming body which he held protectively at the crook of his arm.

Jiraiya was the first one to speak.

"Minato, what in the world happened?! The Kyuubi suddenly started to glow, and then it just disappeared!. It vanished completely! And that thing you're holding- is that a baby?"

Minato tried to answer, but Jiraiya was busy staring at Naruto and spouting unrealistic theories about what had happened.

The Sandaime's eye twitched in annoyance. "Jiraiya, be quiet and listen to what Minato has to say!" Sarutobi admonished sternly.

"Ah, right, sorry." Jiraiya said sheepishly, scratching to back of his neck.

Taking a deep breath, Minato steeled himself before he broke the news to them both.

"This is my son, the Kyuubi is sealed inside of him."

At this, trepidation crept into their eyes, and they visibly took a step backwards, eying Naruto warily.

"My god, your son- is a Jinchuuriki!" exclaimed Sarutobi in shocked tones.

He maintained a stoic expression externally, but on the inside, he bristling with anger.

He answered flatly. "Yes he is, but he is my son, and will be treated as such. Do remember that Jinchuuriki _are not _the beasts themselves."

He stared them down, _daring_ them to disagree. Finally, Sarutobi sighed and caved in to his sharp gaze.

"Of course, I'm sorry, there is no may you would make a mistake. But seeing as the beast is sealed inside of Naruto, how is it that you are still alive?" He asked curiously.

Minato paused and contemplated what he was about to say before answering slowly.

"You all saw the nine-tails glowing before it disappearing right?" At this, both men nodded.

"I was about to seal it inside of Naruto, but it suddenly turned into a glowing mass that went inside of him." He made a hand sign, and the seal reappeared on Naruto's stomach. " I've checked the strength of the seal, and from what I can tell, its as strong as what I would have made it. As for what happened...crazy as this sounds, the only explanation I can think of is divine intervention. I mean, if Naruto is the Child of Prophecy, then this is a probable resolution. "

He was met with skeptical and wary looks that clearly indicated the unspoken words of "you're insane." He grimaced at their identical looks of disbelief.

"I mean-" he faltered, " me and Kushina didn't do anything, there's no way little Naruto could have done anything since he's only a baby."

Silence reigned before Sarutobi sighed. "We'll see. I do believe in your judgment, but since all of us can agree none of us are sure of _what exactly _had transpired tonight, I advise you to keep an eye on Naruto for the next few days just for the purpose of precaution since there is _no way_ that Konoha will survive a second attack." Minato agreed, and room became awkwardly silent for a few moments before Jiraiya asked:

"By the way, Minato, how is Kushina, is she injured?"

The Yondaime for all his greatness flinched and stared at the ground, before mumbling incoherently.

"Minato?" Jiraiya leaned forward to hear more clearly- and was met with his student's eyes filled with so much grief and heartbreak that he almost instinctively took a step backwards in fear him shattering like delicate glass.

"Kushina has passed away. They weren't able to save her." He replied brokenly.

Jiraiya's eyes filled with shock, before his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Minato, so Kushina-chan has really...I'm so sorry." he said mournfully.

* * *

As an exhausted Minato returned to his sleeping quarters- after giving a speech that he had defeated the Kyuubi (which was a lie). He failed to mention Naruto on purpose, and his existence was kept a secret from everyone in the village aside from Sarutobi, Jiraiya, and Kakashi.

As he fed Naruto from a baby bottle, much delayed tears fell from his eyes and onto Naruto's face.

"I'm sorry Naruto" He said quietly, wiping his face with the back of his hand. "I'm so, so sorry."

And he was, for just about everything- for condemning him to his fate of being a Jinchuuriki, for not being a stronger father, and for not being able to save his mother.

At least he hoped, that by hiding the fact that he was a Jinchuuriki, Naruto would have a fairly normal childhood. If the villagers found out of Naruto's secret companion, they would treat him the way most people treated Jinchuuriki- with hate and disgust. If only they knew, they would probably immediately order for his execution, he was sure of it.

As he was sat there silently in a trance, consumed by his grief, he was brought out of his trance when he heard Naruto gurgle loudly. He looked down and saw tiny hands waving, reaching for him.

Minato lifted the squirming body and held him up to his chest. Naruto stilled and stared back at him with an unnerving gaze. He sat stock-still as Naruto reached above his face, and patted him on the head. Naruto stared at him solemnly for several seconds while he continuously patted his head.

Minato was flabbergasted. "Naruto, are you comforting me?" He asked, amazed- some how expecting an answer.

It was probably impossible, but after seeing what seemed like a miracle that had transpired that evening, anything seemed possible.

Suddenly, Naruto stopped patting his head, smiled innocently, and yanked on his hair with a exceedingly painful grip. Yeah- he thought as much. He must _truly_ be loosing his mind if he thought for even a second that a newborn baby could _possibly_ comprehend anything that was going on around it.

He was suddenly very tired, and near collapsed onto the bed, after he placed Naruto next to him and wrapped a blanket around them both.

As the night went past, both forms stilled as they fell prey to their much needed rest, completely unaware and dead to the world.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Innocent Age

* * *

He was completely at lost about what had become of him- from the time he fell into the lake, to awakening to a Yondaime that was still alive.

He ruled out the theory that he was dying and his brain was playing tricks on him because the historical accuracy of everything was far to accurate to call it a hallucination. Then this was apparently reality.

He was inside of the hokage's office, and could hear garbled words that barely made any sense. He supposed that his brain was still too underdeveloped to comprehend most the human language.

But because he had the soul of a eighteen years old, he was able to make out a few key words that hinted towards his current predicament.

His dad had mentioned something about "divine intervention, and the "Child of Prophecy."

Since the Kyuubi was already inside of him before he came here, and law of the universe dictates that there can only be one nine-tailed beast, then it wouldn't completely improbable for his dad to have survived since he didn't need to seal anything inside of him...

As for the "Child of Prophecy," He had heard of that term when Jiraiya mentioned that it refereed to both him and Nagato trying to save the world. But since he already defeated Tobi who was the bringer to the end of the world, and permanently sealed the rampaging ten-tailed Jinchuuriki away, what exactly was the purpose for him to be here?

Now that he thought about it, a lot of people had died despite his efforts to end the war. The included both his friends, and a ton of other innocent people he could have saved. And in aside from the anything that may happen differently because his dad is still alive, he knew just about everything that would happen in the future!

He decided, that he would make it his duty to save the people precious to him so that he wouldn't have to face the future alone as he was forced to in his other life. But first, he would need to prove to everyone _exactly_ what he was capable of.

* * *

_Two year time skip:_

Minato was simply amazed. Just a year after Naruto was born, he was walking, talking, and able change his own diapers- which was an exceedingly amusing sight.

While most two year olds could barely talk, by the age of two, Naruto was already reading books at least a decade ahead of what one year olds should be reading.

The child specialists said that his son could probably be considered a prodigy. Minato honestly wasn't sure if this was natural.

Today he was able to come home earlier than usual and was met with the sight of Naruto reading several scrolls of forbidden techniques.

"Naruto, don't touch those, you could get hurt." He gently chastised. Naruto put the scrolls down and looked at him with innocent blue eyes.

"Daddy, I want to go to the Academy and become a ninja." Naruto said with determination.

Minato shook his in disagreement. "Naruto, I know that you're very smart, but don't you think that it's a little too early? Why don't you play with other kids your age?"

"But Daddy, you said that I can't go far from our house for my own safety. All the other kids my age do is drool and sleep."

Minato snorted in amusement. The kid had a point. It was true that Naruto was practically dying of boredom.

Naruto was extremely intelligent, but he rarely came in contact with other children. If he couldn't keep up with the academy's lessons since he was so young- then they could deal with that accordingly. Ruffling Naruto's hair affectionately, he grinned as he came up with a plan.

"Alright, you can go to the Academy under the condition that you agree to enter under the alias of Uzumaki Naruto."

Minato went into detail to explain why he needed to remain hidden, but Naruto already knew that it was because of his dad's enemies.

Naruto easily agreed. While his mother's surname had been Uzumaki, the the descendents of the clan had scattered across the globe, so it was highly unlikely that anyone make the connection. It had also been the name he used in his last life, and he was much more accustomed to "Naruto Uzumaki" as apposed to _"_Naruto_ Namikaze."_

Minato pulled a few strings as the Hokage and created a false identity for Naruto in the orphanage records. Naruto was able to enter the academy despite his age because of his status as a prodigy in his orphanage records.

His dad had no idea that he had overheard his conversation with the old man about 'how to keep Naruto safe.' He was glad that Sarutobi had taught his dad how to use the Telescope Technique so that he could constantly watch him through a crystal ball instead dispatching ANBU to watch over him.

That would not only catch the attention people like Danzo (who probably try to find out why the entity of a orphan like Naruto Uzumaki was special). It would also saved him from great discomfort since he already had the ninja skills from his other life to easily detect that he was being followed.

To avoid suspicion, the plan was for Naruto was to be walked to the orphanage by a teacher every day. Kakashi (under a henge) would bring him home using the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Naruto was only two when the Academy let in its new students. And so, the academy was in for a shock when a toddler entered the classroom.

* * *

Most students started the Academy when they were at least eight years old.

Itachi was an exception since he was considered a prodigy and had only six. Expecting himself to be the youngest student in class, he was shocked at the newcomer. From what he could see, the kid was either a toddler, or just exceptionally small.

While Itachi was younger, he was also tall for his age so he didn't stand out as much. The new student however, stood out like a sore thumb.

"Uzumaki Naruto-kun, please take the seat next to Itachi-kun" said the teacher smiling kindly and motioned towards the empty seat. The teacher smiled and cheerfully introduced himself.

"My name is Daikoku Funeno, and I will be your teacher in the Academy until you pass as genin. Any questions?" A girl with goggles raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering" she began, "why is Naruto so much younger than all of us, isn't he way too young?" That was probably what everyone else was thinking.

"Well, Naruto is a special case since he is very smart, and age has little to do with ability." He answered sagely.

As soon as Naruto sat down, Itachi studied him out of the corner of his eye. The first lesson of the year was simply a introduction to the path of becoming ninja, so he tuned everything out.

"Hey, Naruto" Itachi said the boy.

Naruto turned towards him, blond eyebrows raised. "What is it?"

"I was wondering since the teacher didn't mention it, how old _**are**_ you?"

Naruto Uzumaki smiled and responded with: "I'm two"

"Oh, I see." Itachi said, and gave a look of surprise. So the child really was as young as he had originally thought.

While he was impassive on the outside, he was secretly feeling sort of happy. Unlike most Uchiha, he lacked the arrogant pride the seemed to be genetic nature of nearly every member of his clan. His father was no exception, and constantly boasted to the elders about him being a perfect and prodigious heir.

He could honestly say that most of his clan viewed themselves as the very best, with all of the other clans in the village being under them.

His father became increasingly more stern after the nine-tails incident which causing a general mistrust towards the Uchiha clan. His status as a prodigy and the eldest son of the clan's leader only increased the amount of discussions with his father about his"destiny" and duties as the future head of the clan.

He was glad to say that he didn't delude himself into believing that he was unbeatable, and this Uzumaki Naruto was a clear sign that others _could_ surpass him despite what most people believed.

He thought that it was ironic really, that aside from his revered talents, the Uchiha heir was actually the least Uchiha of them all.

As much as it would have amused him to see the expression on his father's face if he knew that his son had been bested by a nameless orphan, he wouldn't say anything. Knowing his father, his father would probably try to approach the boy with ulterior motives.

* * *

Naruto almost laughed at the looks on the faces of the other students as he entered the classroom. It seemed that he could never escape from being stared at.

Before it was because the villagers saw him as the "nine-tails demon child." Now it probably had something to do with his appearance. He heard the teacher call out his name, and to sit next to "Itachi-kun."

He looked where his teacher pointed at and almost gawked at the person in front of him. It was only from his many years as a ninja which prevented him from exposing his shock.

To the left of where he would be sitting was the one and only Itachi Uchiha. Yep. An extremely young, sharingan-less, and innocent looking mini-Itachi who he knew was secretly observing him.

He forced back a grin since this innocent picture was so unlike the person he viewed for the most part of his life as an enemy. An older Itachi with the Mangekyo Sharingan, dangerous s-class criminal, and member of the Akatsuki- reduced to a kid.

This Itachi had no idea that his future self would slaughter the entire Uchiha Clan with the exception of his precious little brother to save Konoha. Naruto silently promised that if the Uchiha Massacre was going to happen again, he would be there to stop it from happening.

* * *

The next day, Fureno Sensei started on their first lesson. They would attempt to using the clone technique. A clone is not made of any substance so it couldn't used to fight, only to distract an enemy. How boring, thought Naruto. His shadow clones were much better. Too bad it was considered a forbidden technique and would probably cause chakra exhaustion to anyone else aside from himself. The teacher showed them the hand seals and chakra control.

"Alright then, why don't all of you try of yourselves." He said.

Naruto lazily lifted his hands and used the Ram- Snake- Tiger hand seals. A copy of himself appeared immediately.

"Well done Mr. Uzumaki." Fureno Sensei said with a small smile on his face. By the end of the class, the only other person who successfully created a clone was Itachi.

Classes for Naruto was exceedingly mundane since he knew everything already. Over the course of the year, the class learned the all the basics such as leaf concentration practice for concentration, and general sealing technique to seal weapons into scrolls.

He had Itachi got along fine, not that they were best friends or anything. Itachi was apparently not very talkative even as a kid, and they barely talked about anything aside from classwork. In fact, the class generally ignored them both altogether. It probably had something to do with their silent dispositions. They were both polite, and charmed the teacher's with their talent, but neither of them initiated conversations with other students.

Naruto used to always smile all the time, but everything that he had seen happen during the war, he couldn't bring himself to prank and goof off as he used to. It would also be disadvantageous to his plans if people saw him only as a naive and stupid kid.

Over the course of the year, Itachi and Naruto quickly became distinctive as the most talented students in the Academy.

Naruto stood out especially since he had quickly proved himself to be one of the best students in class despite his age, and after a boring year finally passed the Genin exams at the age of three.

Named the rookie of the year along with Itachi who tied with him in first place, Naruto had finally taken a small step in his plans for the future.


End file.
